


Of Music and Travels

by ownedbyacat



Series: Rise as One [9]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Army!fic, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 21:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4851029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ownedbyacat/pseuds/ownedbyacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Changmin will take a call from Yunho anywhere. Even early on a Sunday morning in London.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Music and Travels

Changmin snatched at the phone on his bedside table and had the small device clamped to his ear before the sound of the first ring had died away. "Hyung!" he bellowed as if he had to cover the distance between them with his voice alone, then remembered that hotel rooms were not built with sound proof walls. Though sometimes they really should be.

"Minnie-ah!"

Yunho's laughter bubbled across the miles, bright like sunshine and warm with contentment. Changmin used to think he'd happily commit murder to hear that sound and now he found that, even after all those years and thousands miles away, he still did. "Are you well? How is the weather? How was the festival? Did fans come? Did you sing Love in the Ice? Did you—"

"Min! You're the one having the adventure. So I should be the one asking questions."

"No. Not yet." Changmin's ears heated, but he didn't back down. "Time always goes so fast when you call me. You keep asking me how I am doing and then our time's up before you can tell me anything about yourself. So today, we're doing it the other way around. Tell me how you are." Changmin slid a little deeper into the cushions. The bed was decadently soft, with more big, fluffy pillows than strictly necessary for one person and a quilted, embroidered bedspread that was so pretty he was inclined to take it with him when he left. It was Sunday, six o'clock in the morning and the city had barely begun to buzz around him. He'd stirred at dawn, listening to the unfamiliar, many voiced toll of nearby church bells while he drifted on the cusp of waking, too keyed up anticipating Yunho's call to fall asleep again.

It was far too early to be up, and Jae Won would kick his ass if he couldn't keep up later, but right then Yunho was the one stuck on an army base, with phones only available at certain times. Changmin would wake at ridiculous o'clock to take Yunho's call and deal with primadonna friends and their silly demands later.

"I'm fine," Yunho purred while Changmin wrapped himself around a pillow, phone glued to his ear. It made sense to him that Yunho, stuck on an army base with limited means to communicate and no means to change or affect any of his previous life was chafing under the restrictions. That he needed the reassurance that people and things he cared for were well. But Changmin would be in the same situation soon and he needed to know how Yunho coped. That he coped.

"Tell me, hyung," he said again. And this time Yunho gave in.

"On downtime for a day. The festival performance went well. The fans came. And the guys worked very hard to do credit to our songs."

"Good." It had taken Changmin a lot of effort to persuade Yunho to agree to perform TVXQ songs at the festival. Yunho hadn't wanted to, thinking he was putting himself forward too much, eclipsing the others who'd worked in the band for longer than he'd even worn a uniform. Changmin hadn't seen it that way at all. He was the one who'd suggested they sing Love in the Ice, knowing how much the song meant to the two of them. "I hope your guys enjoyed the attention."

"You should have seen their faces when the fan chants started up to Mirotic. It was… fun."

"Good," Changmin said again, pleased his plan hadn't backfired. The men serving with Yunho were a fun bunch, or so they had seemed when Yunho had introduced him during his visit. The endless snarking was something that reminded him of nights out with Kyuline and he'd joined in as if he'd been there from the beginning. He'd wanted the men to know that neither of them was too proud or too glamorous to have fun with them. Because Yunho needed looking after, and they'd all got that.

_Our fame shines brightly enough, he'd argued later_ , when he and Yunho had been given space to talk privately. _You can share it around. Let some of it cheer those guys' lives. Remember when we went to open that dance school in Osaka? When you asked the kids what they dreamed about?_

_They wished for a chance to perform alongside us._

_Exactly. So you see, you're sharing our dream with the guys in your band… there's nothing wrong with that. And you never know… you might give them something they'll remember forever. Not a lot of people can say they've stood on a stage with U-know Yunho._

_I only want to stand on stage with you._

_Well, tough. Right now, neither one of us has that choice._

At the time, Yunho hadn't looked convinced, but it seemed now as if he'd taken the time to think and he'd listened to Changmin's words. Just as he wanted to listen to Changmin now.

"Tell me of your adventures," he requested. "Are you well? Are enjoying yourself? Have you found some outrageous gifts to take home for your sisters?"

The trip had been Yunho's idea. Changmin had been prepared to work right up to his enlistment when Yunho had suggested that he take some time for himself when he finished filming. "You love to travel and for the next two years you're going to be grounded," he'd argued. "Why not take some time now and go see some sights? Play a little. You deserve it."

Changmin had been as unconvinced as Yunho had been earlier, but Yunho's advice had been good. Changmin wasn't above admitting it.

"I'm glad we're doing this," he said softly, fingers playing with the gold tassels on the bedspread that he really wanted to take home with him. "It's nice, just being…normal, you know? We went to Amsterdam first. Justin dragged us off to visit a brewery." He'd expected Yunho's snort of laughter from the other end of the line. It made him smile, nevertheless. "And then Brussels. By the time we got here to London I'm finally remembering not to take my shoes off the moment I step into a room."

"Did you see Chelsea play?"

"Yes. And they won, too," Changmin enthused. He stopped at rehashing the match. They didn't have that much time and Yunho had listened to him often enough go on about his team. "We wandered around a bit after the game. London wasn't very accommodating, you know. No fog and it wasn't raining, either. Today we're just hanging out. And tomorrow we're off to Switzerland."

"You'll be pig sick of planes and airports by the time you get back home."

"Wasn't this the idea?"

"Maybe a side plot. The idea was for you to have fun. Do something for yourself for a change."

"Well…," Changmin's voice dropped a little, grew softer and he did nothing to hide it. Wasn't ashamed of it, either. "I'm doing that, but…"

"But what?"

"It'd be nicer if you were here too. When we travel we're usually working. And there's never much time to just wander around." It was true, and Changmin was almost tempted to add another confession. One that was on the tip of his tongue every time they talked. Another set of church bells started their morning song close by and Changmin knew that their time to talk was almost up. He took a deep breath and swallowed the words he wanted to say as he'd swallowed them before. Things were what they were. And he didn't want Yunho's last memory to be of a maudlin, moping Changmin.

"We should have done this before you enlisted and you should have come with me," he said instead. "My room's bigger than our Tokyo apartment. And the beds they have here are truly decadent. You could actually try for your twenty hours of beauty sleep."

"Sleeping. Just what I'd think of doing if I were in London with you."

Yunho's tone could have dried a Martini and Changmin felt a hot flush work its way up his neck to his ears and down into his belly. "There's plenty of entertainment here if you're up for it," he tried to rally.

"Yeah, right," Yunho chuckled dismissively. "I can hear church bells in the background. Those fancy hotel rooms of yours aren't nearly soundproof enough for what I have in mind."

The line clicked loudly and Yunho was gone, leaving Changmin curled around his pillow in a London hotel room busy imagining activities that required effective soundproofing.

 


End file.
